This surprised me. I didn't expect to like it as much as I did. The basic premise of a reality show to choose the next superhero sounded very thin. However, I loved the character development that the 6 issues contained. That goes for all of the show contestants not just Leslie. Each by the end is their own person and you see decent growth in them as characters. Like other Aspen books the art is solid. Another nod to the names of each issue being superhero takes on song titles was great.

The only issue I had was the thin depiction of Stasis the main villain. He felt very one dimensional. Even just a small bit of his back story aside from how Leslie viewed him would have gone a long way to make the rivalry and eventual showdown between them more powerful.

All in all I ended up really enjoying this. It's a great origin story with great art, decent characters and overall solid and original plot. For the price you could do a lot worse than Idolized.

The idea of the trade is solid. The four points or elements face off against the four horsemand of the apolocolpyse. The art is good and vibrant and the inks are well done. The issue is with the story execution. It has potential. Perhaps if it was an ongoing series we could see some more development for the main characters. The Four Horseman don't come off much better. They are introduced and delt with in the span of a few pages and the battle at the end feels rushed.
Overall, if there is more to this series like say an on-going title I would give it a try to at least see some growth. The trade though is only okay.

Love the artwork! Especially the dragon.
It will be interesting to see how the story thread develops.
Scanning was fine - colours OK on my machine.
Text is a touch small for me and I had to zoom in to read some of the words.

Having no ties to the previous versions of Soulfire, I was excited to jump into this new series featuring one of Aspen’s more popular characters. This incarnation is written by J.T. Krul and Frank Mastromauro with art by V. Ken Marion (pencils) Mark Roslan (inks) and Kyle Ritter (colors).

We learn in the prologue that the world of Soulfire is one in which magic has long since disappeared. It’s now the year 2213 and a young man named Malikai has brought magic back into the world. He is accompanied by a winged woman named Grace (who adorns the cover of this issue) and a group of adventurers.

The first issue of a the series introduces a new female character to the group, and sees the group head to Paris, France for a battle tournament that Malikai’s colleagues are entering. We also see the main villain of the series pondering his past defeats and beginning a new plot to use both technology and magic to reclaim his place of power.

While there is a lot of recapping past events in this issue, it still felt to me like I’ve missed out on quite a bit. For the most part, the main characters are already established and I think the creators are assuming that readers are at least familiar with what has come before. The artwork is great overall, and the world of Soulfire is vibrant and colorful, filled with unique characters that I’d like to know more about.

In order to learn more about that world though, I get the feeling I’ll have to go digging into previous series, as this series feels like it will require that previous knowledge.

Overall, Soulfire #1 is an interesting read, but not necessarily new-reader friendly.

Most of the time, zero issues are a good way to get a taste of the story, characters, and style of a book's creators. Zero issues also get a little more slack than I might give a full issue in a storyline. They are meant as an introduction and a teaser. And usually they come at a nice discount. In this case, Aspen Comics has made the zero issue of Charismagic a free issue.

They start off well by giving us both variant covers. That's essential in a digital copy, and I'm glad to see it here. Particularly since the covers are in differing artistic styles. So, bonus points for even HAVING a variant for a free zero issue.

The next thing I look for in a zero issue is how quickly they can grab me into the story. They do an okay job here, with a panel of exposition starting in a diner booth. The lose points for conversation versus setting a tone, but they gain points with their mystical, obviously magical, woman with a hot neck tattoo. (Okay, I can be superficial - it is comics, and attractiveness isn't necessarily gratuitous).

The book gets high marks for the art, with a unique style that also happens to fit with the Aspen line. It's more angular than, say, a Michael Turner clone artist. The panels flow and are interesting.

The writing is fine, but some of the phrasing isn't natural. A few turns of words wouldn't really be said in real conversation - split sentences work fine while she is telling the background story, but don't work as well in general conversation. (For example, the line "Then maybe you should listen to your own warning, and...don't tell me you can't...feel it inside?" The split between "and" and "feel" is a bit awkward. I know it's a nitpick, but it does describe the style in some other sentences in the book.) But, the story gets across fine so I just chalk that up to my personal peeve and not a big deal.

The main character, I think, is introduced in the last few pages. This is Hank the Magnificient, a Las Vegas magician. We don't see much of him, and he seems likeable. I believe the creator wanted to show the contrast between the dark figures that make up most of the book and this goofy magician who has good confidence and possible good skills. I'd have liked to know more about him.

Even so, it's worth checking out - especially at the price! I will be reading more of this series to see how things unfold.